Pioneer Athlete Spotlight on Kelsey Macaulay, Oakhurst Orcas
Name: Kelsey Macaulay
Team: Oakhurst Orcas Swim Team
Age: 18
Sports: Swimming, Soccer
As a child, Macaulay participated in golf, tennis, gymnastics, basketball, diving, soccer and swimming. By the time she was a high school freshman at Carondelet, she whittled down her sports to soccer and swimming. When she graduated in May she had spent her first two years on Cougar soccer teams and all four years swimming for CHS.
This summer she is concluding her swim career for the Oakhurst Orcas, where she is also a junior coaching for the Clayton-based recreation swim team. Macaulay chose to participate in soccer at Carondelet as a freshman in order to make friends and to get to know people who had similar interests as her.
She joined the swim team because she’s always loved the sport and wanted to bring that love of swimming into her high school experience. She concluded this season with the Cougars taking second, barely missing out on winning the North Coast Section championship.
Macaulay has been swimming each summer for the Oakhurst Orcas for a decade and she also played club soccer through her junior year in high school. Macaulay was on the North Coast Section President’s List as a junior and senior, and was named to the 2022 NISCA Academic All-America swim team. Macaulay’s favorite part about being a Carondelet athlete was that she was able to represent a highly-respected, supportive and positive program. That pushed her to be the very best person she could be, on and off the field and in the pool. She had the opportunity to participate in a successful sports community where she could strive for excellence and set new goals for herself.
She believes that sports taught her many life lessons; mostly, she learned about responsibility, teamwork and the importance of balancing working as a team and working individually. Oakhurst coach Jasmine Castillo has played a significant role in her love and success in swimming. Castillo has coached Macaulay since she was seven-years-old and has helped her to develop into the swimmer and individual she is today.
Macaulay’s hard work and discipline as an athlete is also reflected in her success as a student. She earned a 4.18 and that was rewarded when she qualified for the Academic All-America team this year. She volunteered at St. Bonaventure Church in their faith formation program every Sunday and volunteered for A Hop, Skip and A Jump Ahead occupational therapy program the last two years.
Macaulay’s college career starts this fall at prestigious Vanderbilt University in Nashville to study elementary education in the hopes of becoming a teacher.
Clayton Valley Charter High School student journalist Katherine Pugh wrote this Spotlight.
The Pioneer congratulates Kelsey and thanks Athlete Spotlight sponsors Dr. Laura Lacey & Dr. Christopher Ruzicka who have been serving the Clayton and Concord area for over three decades at Family Vision Care Optometry.
Do you know a young athlete who should be recognized? Perhaps he or she has shown exceptional sportsmanship, remarkable improvement or great heart for the sport. Send your nomination for the Pioneer Athlete Spotlight today to Sports@pioneerpublishers.com
Katherine Pugh
Katherine Pugh is a junior at Clayton Valley Charter High School. She enjoys running on the CVCHS cross country team in the fall in addition to the track and field team in the spring. Pugh also swims recreationally for Oakhurst Country Club in the summer. She is a part of the CVCHS Engineering & Design academy and finished her sophomore year with a 4.33 GPA. She’s also excited to be a representative for CVCHS’s ASB leadership group during her junior year. In addition, Pugh works as a hostess at Ed’s Mudville Grill in Clayton. She is very excited to be writing the Student Athlete Spotlight for the Concord Clayton Pioneer.